Incomparable
by solstar16
Summary: Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson were good friends- just until popularity came along and split the two in half. Now Percy's got problems to deal with without Annabeth at his side, so she wonders if he could getaway from those problems back on ice...
1. Chapter 1

**Incomparable**

Chapter 1

**"Percy Jackson?" **

The pouring rain outside hadn't subsided as Mrs. Dodds-the math teacher for the juniors sitting in front of her- paced along the tiles of the floor with a clipboard in her hand, and a pen in the other. She was currently calling names for attendance, to see if everyone was here for her class presently.

"Percy Jackson," She called for a second time, and she stopped in the middle of the class. She tipped her head forward to see through her glasses that were bridged on her nose, and scanned the whole classroom. Her eyes searched every face, and she frowned. "Is Percy Jackson not present?" She demanded.

Annabeth Chase turned around to see the back of the class. She tried to find the guy, probably sitting in the back corner, making himself comfortable with his friends. Her eyes took a quick flash, and she saw no sign of tufts of familiar jet-black hair that belonged to him.

"Absent," Mrs. Dodds muttered, and she checked something on the clipboard, shaking her head in disappointment.

Absent. Again.

This had happened once or twice, or maybe a few more times throughout the semester. But missing out almost a whole week was new. Even in his league.

Well, she couldn't count on him to be better.

Percy Jackson was the all famous delinquent, always, and she means _always_ getting into trouble. The teachers didn't like him for what he did around in school, his every actions. From what she saw, they always spent time with him in the teacher's office to make him write full sentences repeatedly, saying stuff that he would not do anything he had done in the past time to cause trouble again.

What he did, wasn't really the majority that delinquents would usually do at school, like the teachers were thinking. He stuck with the minority like he always did, to what Annabeth remembered. He was the joking type at school, and his grades were slipping, yes, and he would always get in trouble and rebel, yes, but his soft green eyes told otherwise. Annabeth _knew _he had the brains to do well at school. He was smarter than he looked like. But he went with the flow, being the little rebel he was.

As said. He was the _minority_ at _school._

What he did outside of the school, was the main majority. It _had_ to do with the_ law_. Not school, not the house, but the _law. _It just had to be the law.

For instance, vandalism. Or stealing a motorcycle. Anything that had to do with impulsiveness. He also smoked and got high, and sometimes he would drink until he got wasted. She heard hundreds of rumors, which she didn't really trust, but aside that- that's all she _knows.__  
_

Not that she really cared. He would do whatever he wanted to do. Annabeth had nothing to do with it, and she didn't want to get her paws on it.

But sometimes, she did. She was really close to him when they were kids. She still remembers herself going over to Percy's to play video games and sometimes do her homework when they were in middle school. They even had these nicknames for each other that were just silly when she now thought about it.

Then at seventh or eighth grade, when he started getting a little popular- he had started to ignore Annabeth and hang out with other people. People he didn't bother introducing to her and hanging out.

Ugh, she shouldn't be thinking about this! She shouldn't be wasting time zoning out and not paying attention. She should just take out her textbook and notebooks, and pay attention to what Mrs. Dodds had to say right after the call of attendance.

* * *

"What's up with Percy Jackson?"

That was what Thalia Grace, Annabeth's best friend first said as the two strode along the long line of lunch, finally getting to where they actually get their food. Thalia had reasoned that she would buy both of their lunches, putting two lunch tickets into the jar without even pretending to hear Annabeth's protests.

Ugh, just when she had swooped him out of her mind. "I don't know," she replied, shrugging her shoulders.

Not that she should care.

But Thalia had a reason for caring.

Percy Jackson was the cousin of Thalia Grace. Thalia who had electrifying (almost literally) clear blue eyes with thick black eyeliner, and black short-spiky hair. The punk referred to her clothes to black, too- A black tang-top with her favorite Green Day band's logo along with a jacket on top to keep her warm, black ripped skinny jeans, and silver jewelry. What she wore for her small feet were those combat boots that she adored to wear- the ones Annabeth had gotten her for her birthday.

"Well," Thalia said, picking at her spiked bracelet mindlessly. Her head suddenly jerked up and her eyes widened. "Oh, goddamn, what if he got in trouble with the cops again-"

"Thalia," Ananbeth said, a little annoyed, reaching out for a tray with a fork and spoon. "Nothing's going to happen. I swear, maybe he's just sick or something, or went somewhere for a while."

Thalia paused for a second, after the lunch lady had dumped her a sloppy joe, she sighed, and moved along to get the next food. "Maybe you're right. But he's on no field trip by himself and.. Oh, you'll see me kill him if he gets himself big time. You'll see me."

Annabeth nodded, fighting back a smile. "You can kick his sorry ass right then."

She and Thalia had now reached the end of the line, getting their peach halves dumped on their trays by the lunch ladies with permanent frowns plastered on their faces. Though as if she didn't see them, she muttered a quick thank you and followed Thalia to where she was heading- to the table where their friends Grover Underwood and Nico di Angelo were sitting. Annabeth heard Nico swear under his breath as she pulled a chair from the table to sit in.

"Shit," Nico groaned, trying to take his burger in his pale fingers. "God, I can't eat this. This is too _sloppy_."

Nico di Angelo is a cousin of Thalia's, just like Percy is. They were all on the same side -their dad's side, Thalia said-, so Percy was also related to the guy, who couldn't seem to find a napkin anywhere.

Nico had dark brown eyes and black hair. He used to have olive skin, being part Italian. But being in the indoors so much since he didn't like the heat and all, his skin had started to turn from tan, to ghostly pale. He had a skull t-shirt under a dark blue lined jersey jacket with black jeans and black converses. Under his dark eyes, you could see not freckles, but dark circles. He claimed that they had starting forming because his dad, Hades, was driving him insane by picking on him with corny jokes. Annabeth had heard one of those 'jokes', and they weren't that great.

"Well," Annabeth said, biting back a laugh. She handed him a napkin and placed it on the table. "It's the whole point. That's why they're called s_loppy _joes."

"Thalia," Grover called out from across the table. "Did you get the tickets you were talking about? Who were they, _Green May_?"

Grover Underwood was the two girls' and Nico's best friend. He was scrawny, with a case of acne on his face that was getting better every time she got a good look at his face. Grover used to get a little bullied around in freshman year because of his leg disease, which made him walk funny-like every single step hurt him. He had crutches to help, and he also had this note to excuse him for P.E. for the rest of his life.

But you should have _seen_ him running when it was Enchilada Day in the cafeteria. He runs faster than Usain Bolt, so they started saying that he needed those crutches only for _walking_ around.

"Heck yeah," Thalia said, "And it's Green _Day_ Grover, not Green _May._ Guess you love the environment so much you're turning everything flowery." Grover frowned stuck out his tongue as she pulled her phone out of her pocket and started to tap and scroll. She then showed Annabeth the tickets that she had took a picture of, proud and beaming, the background of the picture maybe her bed.

"These babies are just beautiful," She said, caressing the phone in her hands, looking at the picture like it was her heavenly idol. "You don't know how many nights I've stayed up, just to get these two. I swear, they're getting harder to get each concert. But look, these are just beautiful- I just can't."

Annabeth laughed at how ridiculously funny Thalia sounded. Annabeth remembered every single time Thalia would bring in concert tickets and moan all day long just how much she loved them.

"Who are you going with?" Nico asked while taking a bite of his food, managing to hold it without getting the mess on his fingers.

"I dunno," Thalia said, also taking a bite of her sloppy joe, not caring that she got it on the sides of her mouth."I know Annabeth isn't really into concerts, so maybe I'll take Bianca. Or Phoebe. Or both, if they could get another ticket."

"My sister?" Nico asked, dumbfounded, inspecting Thalia's phone as he took it out of her hands.

"Yes," Thalia reached out and snatched the phone out of his hands, looking for any scratches on it. "Your _sister_. She and I have been out for years. Do you remember some of the concerts that we took you to?"

Nico frowned as he pursed his lips. He looked like he was trying very, very hard not to remember anything, but it looks like he had helplessly failed. He shrugged, took a sip of his juice and said, "You remember that time, where that drunk dude barfed all over me while we were sitting down on that break? Man, that was just fucking disgusting."

That's when Annabeth was going to take a big bite to finish half of her sloppy joe, but then she chose not too.

"That," Thalia said, laughing, pointing in Nico's direction, and faced Annabeth. "Was just freaking. Hilarious. Nico, Bianca and I were just chilling on the floors, listening to good music on a short break, and then suddenly some kid came up and barfed all over Nico's shirt." Thalia was laughing so that she had to stop and take a breath. "But you remember me and Bianca kicking his drunk butt." She turned to Nico and raised her eyebrow before taking another huge bite.

"No," Nico said, taking a bite also. Suddenly Grover quickly took a napkin and placed it under Nico's burger before the stuff that was starting to fall fell into his jeans. He murmured quick thanks before he said, "You were too busy laughing in the back. Bianca was the one who took care of his 'drunk butt'. Thank you, Thalia, my hero. You're the only one I can look up to." Nico said in a sarcastic voice, taking it on the same tone.

Thalia tried to scowl at his comment, but she kept laughing like she was remembering very,very good old sticky times. "Awesome." She said as she took a slurp of juice.

Grover put down his sloppy joe and put his hands on the fork for his peaches. "Mrs. Dodds seemed mad today," he said, playing with the fork by tapping it and messing with the fruit. "I mean, we always see her mad, yeah. Every time we see her outside of class, she's in the teacher's office making Percy do something."

"I just hate Mrs. Dodds," Nico said, finishing off his burger and wiping his hands on a napkin. "God, too much homework. You remember those homework passes we used to get in middle school for being good? Man, that was the life."

"I'll have to agree to Nico that Mrs. Dodds is such a pain in the ass," Thalia mumbled. "But what's with Jackson? Did you guys see him anywhere? Not even in Manhattan or something?"

"Nah," Nico said, playing with his plastic fork. "I saw him last week, but we all saw him then."

"I tried to call him," Thalia said, stuffing the rest in her mouth. Annabeth watched in awe as Thalia closed her mouth to finish up the last bit. "But he didn't answer. His phone's still on, though."

"I don't know what's going on," Annabeth said, trying to get up as she finished her lunch. "But I have to get to class. Thals, you coming?"

"I'll meet you in class," Thalia said, picking at her peach with her plastic fork. "I still got my healthy fruits left.

"Okay," Annabeth said, picking up her tray. "See you there."

The blonde made her way out of the cafeteria doors after dumping her tray into the trash can. As they pushed the doors open and into the hallway, she saw that there were many people in the small hallway, people talking and groaning as they went to their lockers for their books. She also saw some girls head to the bathroom, squealing because they had spilled their food on their clothes. That inspired her to inspect her clothes, and she was glad she didn't get any sloppy things on her. Once she confirmed she was clean by looking all over her body, she had put her Latin books into her bag and shoved the Math book back into it's place, and she headed down for the second building.

On the way, the sparkle of glitter glue and flashing of highlighter neon paint caught her eye, and she turned to give a look.

On the bulletin board, there were flyers and posters advertising for new recruits on the school's hockey team. Apparently they needed someone- they looked pretty desperate from what Annabeth had seen from last year's game.

When she thought of hockey, it all reminded her of one person, to her annoyance.

Percy Jackson. He used to play before he got popular.

Gah.

She just shook her head and headed for the classroom labeled _Latin._ She stepped in carefully, not making a sound and sat in the back where she was assigned. Other kids in the classroom were sitting in random seats to talk with their friends about last night's date or last night's party or whatever._  
_

She liked to hear people talk when she didn't have anything else to do.

After five minutes, (about three minutes left until the bell rang) Thalia, Nico and Grover-who had all took this class at this time with Annabeth- had walked in and gave Annabeth a high-five before getting to their own assigned seats. Thalia sat with Luke Castellan, this blond guy that Thalia and him have been called friends who's in the hockey team, and Nico sat with Rachel Dare, the girl who with fiery hair and jeans that she painted and doodled on, and lastly Grover with Juniper, who had the same opinions to the global warming that Grover had shared with her.

They also were partners in Environment. No surprise there.

While Annabeth, she sat alone, in the very back. If it helps, there were two chatty girls in front of her, talking about the latest gossip all day long, nonstop. She wondered if it didn't hurt moving their mouths so much like that, or if their voices didn't run out from all that chat they had.

Annabeth felt tired hearing them bicker about a nice boy, so she spread her arms and folding them on the table and lay down to take a quick nap.

That's when Annabeth felt someone plop on the chair next to hers.

And that was strange. Last time she checked, she didn't have any new partners.

She peeked from her arms and through her curtain of blond hair to see who it was.

It was a guy, she noticed, wearing a warm enough jacket for the cold weather, the hood covering his hair with a purple shirt and jeans. This person had his hands shoved deep into his pockets, the sleeves of his hoodie pulled up to his elbows. He slumped in his chair slowly, like he wasn't comfortable, or anything along that word.

Annabeth started noticed that a lot of eyes were heading this way, backs turning and all. Annabeth knew that she usually didn't get special attention like this. Maybe there was a wasp on the window? But.. No.. one of the girls were staring right this way, right next to Annabeth where the guy was sitting.

Who was this kid? Was he new? Did he transfer or something?

Annabeth lifted her head from her folded arms to see just who this kid was. He was facing the front with his head down, so that she could only see his hair sticking out from the hoodie. This kid had black windblown hair that was wet- possibly from the rain. She could also make out the left side of his face, which showed his tanned cheek. She guessed that this kid spent some time at the beach over the summer.

She watched as he took in steady breathing, his shoulders going up and down, and up and down. He looked tired and uncomfortable, like he had just jogged his way from California to Manhattan for morning exercising and got weird glances just because he thought it was normal for a guy like him.

Then he took a swift glance at the clock on the left side of the wall, and she got a chance to see his face.

She blinked. Maybe even a few times just to see if her eyes were working right. Apparently, they were.

"Percy Jackson?" Annabeth croaked. She didn't intend to do it, but her voice croaked and pitched up high at his last name, like she was a frog that spent some time in a microwave.

Yes, it was Percy Jackson. His face turned to look at her, and his face was dull and expressionless before he gave a small, dimpled smile. "Hi," He said in a quiet voice.

Annabeth was startled in shock. Not because of his sudden appearance, but by the view she took in.

He had cuts all over his cheek along with the rest of his face. They weren't fresh; but they did look like he got them in the past few days because they were scabbed up. She could definitely tell that there were some on his forehead, and there were some on his upper brows. He also had some greenish bruises, and a small corner of his eye was bloodshot. But you would've missed it if not for his long lashes trying to cover all of it.

"What-" She tried to ask what the hell had happened, but words wouldn't-couldn't- form in her mouth. Her widened eyes never left his face. She hadn't seen someone _this_ scabbed up or bruised. She only thought those came out in movies or crapped up dramas. She tried to find her voice by thinking. She gulped, and managed to croak, "What _happened_?"

She reached up, but she abruptly pulled back and crossed her arms when he flinched.

"I fell," He said sheepishly.

"What?" Annabeth tried to observe them more. "No falling could give you that kind of-"

"Oh my gosh," someone with a mall girl's voice squealed suspiciously in front of her. "Percy!"

The girl in front of Annabeth turned around which made the one in front of him turn around to face him. The girl in front of him said, "Oh, my gosh. Percy! Where were you?"

Annabeth couldn't help but snicker at these two miserable flirts. They had been talking about their latest breakup only yesterday, which Annabeth felt annoyed hearing when they were supposed to be paying attention to the board and to what the teacher was saying. Apparently, they looked bright when they saw Percy- hadn't they noticed his beat-up face?

"Um," Percy stalled, looking around the classroom, uncomfortable by all the sudden attention around him which had started maybe like, ten minutes ago or something. "I was out."

"Oh," the brunette, the one in front of Annabeth said. She flipped her hair, and leaned her chin against her arm, which was on Annabeth's table. Annabeth felt disgusted. "That was pretty long. So.. what are you doing Friday night? You think you can hang out?" She bat her eyes in front of him and stuck out her lip to be, maybe, cute. Annabeth scoffed to herself.

The blonde in front of Percy looked excited as the brunette said this, but Percy looked slight annoyed. He smiled, though, trying not to be rude. Same old Percy. "I'm not sure. My mom's taking me to the beach Friday night 'till Saturday or Sunday. It depends. But I'll catch up to you later, if I can."

"Oh," The brunette looked as if she were trying to process what Percy was saying to words. "Well... okay! Be sure to call me!" She did the hand gesture for a phone and smiled.

"And me!" The blonde said. They both giggled then turned to the front, whispering excitedly to each other probably about what they were to do when they went to a date with him.

Despite Annabeth's not-caring for him- she could say that he was pretty handsome. He started to get his looks and his killer swimmer's body at seventh grade by joining the swim team (the time when he stopped hanging out with her), and that's when the girls went swarming over him like bees. He did get a few girlfriends, but none of them went very long, and he didn't seem interested in dating.

That's why all the girls mourn for him, trying to get him to date with themselves. But it always ended with him politely letting them down, like what happened now.

When Percy looked over to where Annabeth was, he gave her a funny look. "What?" He asked, the corners of his mouth twitching. She realized she was staring-gawking- at him for a whole minute.

Annabeth closed her mouth and tried to talk witout looking stupid. "Nothing, um-"

"Alright class!"

Just when she was about to ask him something else. She was interrupted by Mr. Brunner, who had wheeled his way through the classroom in his wheelchair, announcing proudly that class was starting. "Page seventy one, please."

That's when you can't talk, so Annabeth planned that when the bell rings, she will ask what had happened.

Even if she claimed didn't care.

* * *

**Wow. That was weird. **

**I had this sudden.. Sudden urge to write this. It just popped into my head today so I sat in front of the computer started writing. **

**Percy's a little similar to someone I know, so I guess it could be easier to write? Well, this is getting challenging! I like where this is going! hahaha:)**

**Thanks for you who had read this- it means a lot! Please REVIEW on how you think of this (do the three combo!), and let me know if I should continue or not!**

**-solstar16**

**tumblr: solstar16**

**P.S. I also have other stories! Please, if you will, check them out! Keep an eye out for _Friday, I'm in love_, my new story coming soon!**

* * *

EDITED OCT 16 2014


	2. Chapter 2

**Incomparable**

Chapter 2

**Mr. Brunner was up out on the front,** calling out some random Latin vocabulary to ask kids what their translations are in class. Usually Annabeth was the one to answer them quickly then the kids in her thoughts, but her mind was elsewhere.

She tapped her favorite purple pencil mindlessly on her desk, waiting for time to catch up to the bell. She was so distracted by Percy's beat up face in her mind, she couldn't concentrate on what Mr. Brunner was saying, and whether the kids who answered got them right or wrong. All she could think about was his bloodshot eye and cut up face, the hoodie pulled up over his hair to hide his features, along with the bruises.

He was also very quiet today in class, which was very abnormal. He was the one to make random comments and jokes on whatever the teacher says, always being cheeky.

Something was definitely wrong. Something more than physical had happened to him.

"Miss Chase?" Annabeth's head snapped up from her hand. Her eyes adjusted to focus. She saw Mr. Brunner in his wheelchair from the front, staring at her with his arms crossed. Annabeth realized she'd been called more than once, because all the kids turned around to face the back, where she was sitting.

"Huh?" She blurted. Her eyes took a quick scan around the room, and she realized she was still in Latin class. She blushed, embarrassed that she didn't hear him. She was probably drawing attention to herself, which she didn't really want. "Um, I mean-I'm sorry?

"Did you hear my question?" Mr. Brunner raised an eyebrow at her, as if not believing she was zoning out. The kids looked at her and snickered, like they couldn't believe this nerd was zoning out, and Annabeth resisted the urge to throw her purple pencil- especially at Drew Tanaka giving the worst smirk she could give in her life.

Annabeth Chase, not listening in class. Surprise, surprise.

She looked at some random boy around in the class, then to Mr. Brunner, then to a girl. She tried to remember what he had just said or asked, but nothing popped up. She shrugged her shoulders, deciding that an apology would be quick to get it over with. "I'm sor-"

She stopped when felt a chill circling her body, as she heard Percy Jackson right next to her whisper, "He asked what _gladio _means, Annabeth."

She stared at him in confusion because he scooted over his chair so that he was right next to her. Like, _right _next to her. She could barely breathe. She and Percy were getting a lot of stares from kids, including the blonde and brunette in front of her.

Then she noticed his hand was bandaged up, and it cracked the whole moment. She scowled, and turned her head to face the front, scooting away from his chair.

Of course, she was grateful- it had been a while since she had gotten any help from him. She faced him again and muttered, "Thanks," before turning to the teacher up in front who expected her to say the answer."Um, yes, Mr. Brunner. It means _sword_." _  
_

"Very well," The old teacher said, nodded in appreciation. "But I expect you to be facing the board _and _concentrating, Miss Chase."

She flushed of embarrassment. "I'm sorry."

Mr. Brunner smiled, then called up one more Latin word, _Heros. _He scanned the whole classroom for a victim, and his old eyes stopped at a particualr person. He called, "Perseus," and pointed to the boy in the seat next to Annabeth. Percy Jackson.

"Percy, sir," He corrected automatically. He used to do that every time in seventh grade, Annabeth remembered. "Hero, right?"

"Very good," He nodded, his eyes twinkling a bit. "Your name is from the Greek hero, Perseus, right? You told me before."

"Yeah." Mr. Brunner smiled at him before turning. He clapped his hands together, as if he thought of a really great question to ask.

"Can anybody tell me who the hero Perseus's godly father was?" He wheeled back and forth between the desks, looking for raised hands. "Anyone? Students who took Greek Mythology in sophomore year should know this. It was in your textbooks."

Somebody raised their hand, and Mr. Brunner turned his palm for him to go, smiling at the boy who had raised his hand.

"Isn't it Zues?" The boy said.

"That's right," Mr. Brunner smiled. "Looks like you got your Latin vocabulary and Greek mythology right." He wheeled back to the front while he kept his warming smile of appreciation. "Then who can tell me-"

That's when Annabeth zoned out again.

She really couldn't concentrate. All her thoughts were cluttered with the possibilities of what might have happened to Percy Jackson.

Yeah, like she didn't care. Fuck that, he was her friend-maybe best friend- at one time.

Had he gotten in a huge fight in the streets? Huh. Streets. She remembered one of the small streets in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, one of the abandoned. She had been there _once_, in eighth grade, trying to find where the hell was Percy when he didn't get her texts or calls. She was informed from one of his friends that he hung out there, and so she went, just like that. She remembered that there were absolutely no lights- not even the orange lights that sometimes bothered your eyelids while trying to sleep in the car. All there was in the sides of the road were these houses, and Annabeth would've thought they were a real neighborhood, if not for the vandalism.

All those houses, except for maybe one or two had been beaten down. The windows were shattered, the doors' hinges were knocked out to show no doors in the way, and the walls and broken windows were spray painted with _SAM WAZ HERE_, or _LOL_ _Fuk u_, or _Billie made me do_ this.

It was so horrifying to Annabeth that when she was about to turn around and think that she was so stupid for not bringing a flashlight, she was ambushed from behind, a meaty arm around her neck, bracing her in place. She could still remember the scent of his horrible breath. It had reeked of alcohol and stale cigarettes, and she had almost fainted of nausea at the time.

If it wasn't for the fighting classes that she insisted to go to when she was a kid, she would've not been here, right there in her seat.

That's when she realized that Percy might be hanging out with one of _those_, or worse- he _is _one of _those_. When she got to the safer streets and caught herself up, she swore to herself she wouldn't say a thing to him again. She was just to tired to process everything, and too freaking terrified for an eighth grade girl.

Now look how well _that _went, three years later.

Well.. if it _was _a fight, then who would it be _with_? Was it one of those people that he had never bothered to introduce to her? Or was it one of those local gang members that the kids sometimes talked about that had something with Percy? Was it one of _those, _the people Annabeth had once been tackled by?

Goddamn, she was going to have a headache. She was too thinking it out. She was spreading her thoughts too wide, like she always did. Yeah.

When she was subconsciously thinking about the more possibilities, like what he said-he "fell", someone poked her arm from beside.

"What?" She glared directly in the direction of the poker, to her right. There she found Percy Jackson, with his sea blown hair and shining green eyes that stood above all the nasty cuts and bruises, his hands in his pockets. Now that she was in high school (and she would be graduating in a year from now), she couldn't help but think differently than she did in middle school, and one of them were, _damn, look at his eyes. How in the world could he be this attractive?. _He had certainly struck the genetic lottery. Real smart for Annabeth, but she couldn't help it.

He chuckled, the dimples on his cheeks burying themselves deeply, and that's what snapped her out of her little infinity of thoughts. She looked around, and she noticed now that class was over, and the whole class were shoving their bodies through the narrow door like professional football players trying to tackle their way to the ball.

_Of course _she had nod idea what she was doing right now; she was too busy thinking her brains about... someone. Not that it was the boy in front of her or anything. Gah.

Her eyes made their way back to the black haired guy in a hoodie next to her. "Did the bell ring?" She felt dumb asking the question, but he didn't seem to care.

"Yeah," He said. "And I'm pretty sure Mr. Brunner was glaring daggers at you the whole time. You didn't even budge."

"Oh yeah?" She laughed to herself, then gave him a small smile. "How were you, Percy?"

He slumped his shoulders."Great." He got up from his seat and said, "I'll see you around, Annabeth."

With that, he gracefully slipped in between the crowd of students, and disappeared. He didn't even give her time to process everything and say, 'Sure, see you.' or, 'Please tell me what happened to your face.'

She wondered for a second if she was hallucinating. She pinched her cheek. She winced in pain, but no. She rubbed her cheek and confirmed nothing was a dream.

At the front, Nico was walking over to where Annabeth was, and Grover was at his seat talking to Juniper, the two both laughing over something, and it looked sweet. When he met her eyes, he gave me a small smile, and Annabeth gave it back as for encouragement.

Thalia, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen.

Nico di Angelo made it to her seat, and stood over her with his hands shoved deep into his pockets, watching her as she organized her bag up. She stood, slinging it over her shoulder. "Where's Thalia?" She asked.

Nico raised his hands, and he looked too, confused. "I don't know. She took off a while ago. She looked like she was after something.. Maybe she had a paper due?"

"No way," she laughed. "Even if she did, she would never do it. You know Thalia."

Nico have a good laugh. "Yeah. Looks like Grover's too busy too.. We better leave him alone. What's your next class?"

Annabeth fished into her pocket for her small time table that she _should _have memorized by now, and looked into it. "Architecture."

"Well I have P.E.. See you at Study Hall with the others?"

"Study Hall," Annabeth confirmed, and with that, Nico headed for the entrance. Annabeth caught Grover's eye before leaving and saying to meet them at Study Hall, which he also too, confirmed.

Annabeth headed out the entrance and into the halls for her locker. It was a little noisy today, and she noticed a small crowd forming to her right, but this was everyday routine. There was always a crowd.

Since next was Architecture for her, she opened her locker on the top, set her backpack on it and opened it up, placing the books she didn't need on the shelves. She had stayed up all night yesterday just to finish the damn homework Mrs. Kerr had given them, which was designing a building of their own in 3D, and giving it a name and their future location. She had put the design safely away in her locker in the morning, and she carefully stuffed the big piece of paper in her bag.

She slung the bag over her shoulder after taking it out, she closed the locker door and set out for the classroom for her class.

She passed the crowd of kids, and just right when she was about the head out the door of the building, she heard the whispers of the crowds.

"...Thalia Grace's cousin..."

"...was in a fight..."

"... Percy Jackson..."

She stopped dead in her tracks, and tried to listen for more from the crowd. Apparently though, she couldn't figure if she was lucky or not, but she didn't hear anything from them, those who spoke earlier. She heard new voices this time, inside of the crowd.

"...had a fight with that kid, and he left you looking like this?" A feminine voice yelled.

"You didn't even give a shit, Grace! Why do you care so much whether or not if I get cuts or not?" A male voice said, sounding very frustrated.

"The last time you didn't come to school, and that was just for a day- You were beat up by that kid again because you got into his fucking way-"

"Percy Jackson and Thalia Grace!"

Annabeth had finally gotten to the front, trying to stop them, but someone beat it to her. The crowd parted made way to her left, where Thalia was standing, and she saw her Latin teacher she had only seen last about five minutes ago. Mr. Brunner in his wheelchair, wheeling up with a stern and angry look on his face, his hands clutched tightly on the sides of the big wheels.

"You two break up this instant!" He demanded.

The crowd began to slowly dissipate as the bell rang for next class, and Annabeth saw Nico, right at Thalia's side, wearing his gym clothes and clutching Thalia's arm. There were some kids at Percy's side too, ones that she had never been introduced to. They were giving murderous looks right at Thalia, Nico and apparently Grover. But Grover wasn't at either side. He was standing right in the middle, picking at his nails and looking side by side, as if he wasn't sure where to look.

Mr. Brunner wheeled up to them and stopped in front of the two of them. There was no crowd, and Annabeth stood alone, behind Mr. Brunner.

"I am very disappointed in you two," He said, his body tense and the fists on either side of him firmly clenched. "Fighting and using swear words inside of the school! Do you realize how childish that is?" He closed his eyes, shook his head and opened them. "I am very, very disappointed."

With that, he turned his wheelchair and wheeled back into his class- where he came from, his retreating form filled with disappointment.

As he shut the door when he crossed the threshold, Percy Jackson and Thalia faced each other with hatred.

"Yo Percy.."

One of Percy Jackson's friends rested his hand on his shoulder, but he squirmed it away and glared at him. "Leave me the fuck alone."

The kid backed up, and Percy took off and pushed the door out of the building, where Annabeth should be going. He made no move in the sign of care whatsoever, and no one moved.

His friends recovered and shoved their way through Annabeth's friends, all their hands in their black jeans, giving them horrible cold stares as they passed. Annabeth, who didn't give a shit about them, rushed passed them and went up to Thalia.

"What happened?" Annabeth asked her best friend. The punk's eyes were a little red, and her hands by her sides were shaken to fists. She bit her lip, then her whole body shook.

"That bastard.." She murmured.

"What happened?" She asked again.

"I don't know." Thalia slammed her locker door, ignoring her friends and headed for the double doors out of the building, leaving the three utterly confused. Mostly Annabeth, who didn't get to see most of the fight.

"What just happened?" Annabeth asked, looking at her friends that had just saw what happened. She cocked her head right to where Thalia had just left.

"I dunno," Nico answered. He looked tired maybe for a fraction of a second, but then his eyes alerted. "But what I do know is that I am fucking late for P.E.. I'd go after Percy or whatever if I were you."

Annabeth wasn't sure if she was okay leaving without a good answer, but she didn't show. She nodded and shooed him to the gym doors. "Hurry up, you don't want trouble with Coach Hedge."

Nico winced because he had had experience with Coach Hedge, the P.E. teacher for Goode High School. He knew that the wrath of Coach Hedge was never meant to be faced. He scowled and nodded, leaving Annabeth and Grover behind in the hallways.

Grover tightened his crutches and looked at Annabeth. "I'll go catch up with Thalia. You might want to find Percy."

He didn't look for an answer. He limped his way to another classroom and vanished through the doors.

Annabeth didn't know what to do.

If this wasn't all a dream, then her thoughts and brain were working perfectly.

It all seemed like an infinity ago that Percy Jackson had actually been _nice _to her, and nothing violent passing through the air around him. No, not at all. It wasn't the Percy Jackson she _experienced _not too long ago.

Then what was that? What was that fight between her best friend and her long time lost friend?

She needed to go find someone.

And that was going to be Percy Jackson.

* * *

She missed class for the first time in her life.

Annabeth searched the whole school just to find this kid in a plain jacket with the hood over black hair and jeans. She probably searched one whole building about five times retracing her steps, but she couldn't find Percy Jackson.

That's when she's had it- She went into the ice rink gym Goode High had planned just for the hockey team. She past hundreds of ads about the team and how they needed new players, but nothing in her mind seemed to care about it. Thousands of glitter glue glitter sparkled in her corners of her eyes, but the rush of cold air beat it to her conscience.

Her arms went to rub and wrap around herself as she began to tighten her sweater.

The small corridor she was in now burst open to reveal the beautiful ice rink laid across the gym. There were a two teams of players on the ice, gliding gracefully yet powerfully, anxious to get an inch closer to the puck for a score. On her left and right sides, rows of benches spread across in an oval to meet at the point where Annabeth was staring at, right below the clock and digital scoreboard.

Her eyes traced the gym, and she saw a couple of flags of orange and purple- the school colors- hung up here and there, with banners cheering good luck.

Annabeth had been here maybe three times for the big games that Thalia, Nico and Grover drag her to here. The big games were always in winter on December, where two school compete and win for the trophy. Annabeth knew this school wasn't the best; that's probably why they wanted new players for the next big game to buff up.

Well.. you couldn't say they were exactly...

You know what? Never mind.

Annabeth quickly saw she was inside of her own mind, and she was probably just standing there like an idiot, and she really didn't want the players to notice her. She quickly scanned the benches, completely forgetting why she was here in the first place, and went to her left.

She hopped over the first bench and went to the back. She sat comfortably on the metal bench (if that is possible) beside the dark blue wall in between the benches and the entrance, so you don't fall off.

Her hands clutched tighter around her sweater. She wondered just how hockey players could survive this. But of course, they keep moving, and they would get tired and hot.. That didn't apply for her. Last time she was here, she remembered she had two jumpers on, one she stole from good old Thalia. She also remembered she had Nico's aviator jacket over her lap. She shivered. Annabeth just hated the cold.

As she rubbed her arms for warmth, she noticed that there was another figure sitting maybe three benches away from her, on the other end of it. This figure was a guy, she supposed. He had a hoodie on, the hood of it covering his hair, his head, and the sleeves of it were pulled up to his elbow, like he didn't care it was cold. He had his hands in his pockets and his back to the wall.

He looked oddly familiar...

"Percy Jackson?" She whispered to herself.

That's when it all flooded into her brain- why she was here, and how she'd skip class to find someone, and just how that someone was him. Percy Jackson.

She stood up, placed her arms next to her and walked quietly toward him, so she wouldn't have to chase him when he knew she was after her.

She passed the first bench, second bench and finally the third and sat swiftly next to him.

He noticed.

His head turned to look at her, but she kept her eyes straightforward.

"Annabeth?"

She then turned, gave him a smile and said, "Hey Percy."

She couldn't help but wince and almost drop her smile. The scratches and bruises looked much worse in the white light mixed with the blue that bounced off the walls.

"Hey." He grumbled. "What brings you here?"

_What brings me here? _She thought. She came here to find him and demand to know what his problem was, of course.

"I came here to give up on finding you. I came to watch practice."

"And skip class?" He smirked. "Typical Annabeth Chase."

"I'm not lying."

He was silent for a moment before he reached into his jacket and took out two bars of Snickers. He waved them in front of Annabeth's face and smiled. "My mom gave me two of these babies, but I can't eat them all. Want one?"

Annabeth just looked at the Snickers like they were some sort of space food. Her mind went into flashback in seventh grade, where Percy would always bring in Snickers; his mom worked at a little candy shop called _Sweet on America_, and his mom would always give him two of them- and he'd always said the same thing. _My mom gave me two, but I'm full. Want one?_

That's when she would smile and say, _thanks._

She did. She took it, gave him a smile and said, "Thanks."

She took it, unwrapped the Snickers and took a bite, just like how she always did. Man, she hadn't had a Snickers in years.

"So you skipped class to find me."

It didn't sound like a question. Percy kept his eyes straightforward, watching the whole scenery of the hockey players. He too, was chewing a bite out of his bar.

"Yep." Annabeth took another bite. "I didn't expect to find you here."

"What brings you here?" Percy said, looking at the ice field.

"I want to ask you the same question." She said, also keeping her eyes forward. She noticed the team that was wearing orange jerseys had tossed in a goal. Go team.

"Mm." He said, taking another bite. "Well, I guess something brought me here. I don't know."

"Then let's get straight to the point," Annabeth said, swallowing her bite. "What happened to you?"

"I told you. I fell."

"Percy, you know you're a really bad liar to me. Even if I were four years old, I still wouldn't believe it," She turned her whole body to face him, and crossed her legs on the bench.

"You know me too much." He pouted.

"And it still hurts." She admitted.

He smiled and sighed. "I'm sorry Annabeth. Well, yeah, I owe you too much. I did get into a fight."

"With whom?"

"You and your English perfections." He laughed.

She hit him on the shoulder. "This isn't the time for jokes. Tell me who did it."

Percy inhaled a sharp breath and look at her with a sheepish smile. "The local."

"Oh my god," Annabeth put her face in her hands. "Tell me what you did."

"I didn't do anything." He said, taking another bite, managing to get it on the corners of his scratched mouth. "They were the ones who started it."

"What did they do to start it?"

"Hm, let's see," He tapped his Snickers against his chin. "They were bullying this kid who was just crossing pass this street. He had crutches and glasses that were taped together- and you know you only see those in movies, right? Well, anyway. This 'local gang' was picking on him, saying he was crossing 'land'. They tossed his bag across the streets and it sorta got messed up."

"So what did you do?"

"You know me and my ADHD reflexes," He grinned and finished off his Snickers. "That kid sorta reminded me of Grover when he got beat up in middle school. So yeah, I kinda barged in and.. well you know the rest."

She gasped. "And they did this all to you?"

He nodded and faced straightforward. Another point for purple jerseys passed by her eyes.

"You know, Percy," She said, facing the rink like him. "You're a good kid."

He didn't say anything. His eyes were looking at the rink, but she knew he was listening and not actually paying attention to the game.

"What's wrong?" She asked, trying to push an answer out of him.

Annabeth had just wondered- just what had happened between the two after seventh grade. He was a nice kid- and he still is-, so blamed herself for everything. But now, looking at his sad face, even though he didn't try to show it.

"Everything," Percy replied. He stopped, blinking his eyes, as if he'd just said something he didn't intend to say. He shrugged. "A lot of stuff. You wouldn't have time to hear about it, much less care." He said, and Annabeth heard the smallest piece of sadness hidden in the back of those words.

There was silence between the two, and the orange and purple jerseys were scoring up the silence. Annabeth finished off her bar of Snickers and laid the wrapper next the Percy's, in the gap between them.

"Hey," Annabeth called, trying to mend up the awkwardness hanging around in the air. "Hey, Percy."

"Mmm?" He replied, keeping his eyes on the rink.

She held her breath. "You remember when you joined that hockey team in middle school? The Eagles?"

He nodded, his elbows on his knees like he wanted to focus on the game. "Yeah."

"You loved the ice."

"Yes I did."

"Why didn't you join the team, here?" She pointed at the two colors of jerseys playing, gliding along the ice.

He shrugged. "Problems, I guess."

"You loved the ice."

"You just told me that. Yeah."

She straightened up her back and stood up, taking the Snickers wrapper her hand. Percy Jackson tore his eyes from the game and looked up at Annabeth and raised an eyebrow.

"I think you know what I'm saying," She said, leaving out hints. "Join the team, Percy. Maybe it will take those problems out of your mind for once."

Annabeth knew she shouldn't leave him like that, but she felt like she needed to. Well, she said something that would probably help him. She didn't realize in the past that he was _this _tired of his life already.

Maybe if he had a thousand problems, she believed that maybe, just maybe- he could deal with them- out on ice.

* * *

**Woah man. 4400+ words. I hope this makes up for the time I've taken on writing this. **

**So yeah, I'm sorry. I have a lot going on, and my exams are on next week's Tuesday. **

**I wrote this on behalf of my free time, and I'll examine on it later if I can! I'm sorry for the late update. I hope you don't hate me ;(**

**AND PLEASE, LEAVE A _REVIEW_!**

**-solstar16**

**PS: TCP chapter 7 is on it's way, people. I'm writing.**

* * *

EDITED OCT 16, 2014.

4800+WORDS


	3. Chapter 3

**Incomparable**

Chapter 3

**PERCY**

**Percy really didn't feel like picking at **another scab.

He grunted as he applied some medicine on one of his many cuts in front of the school's bathroom mirror, and tried not to touch any of the bruises.

He leaned more against the faucet to get a better look at the bruises on his face as he rubbed in the last bit of medicine to the last cut. The bruises were a deep purple-ish green when he first found out about them in the ungodly hour of five o' clock in the morning of Monday. But now in the light of the bathroom, they were turning into a sickly shade of greenish yellow. A sign that they were close to disappearing.

Percy winced as he touched one on his cheek, the one that good old big mouth gangster guy had punched himself.

He sighed, and the hood that he had on for what seemed like years was getting hot on his hair. He was probably sweating, but he didn't dare take it down when everybody was looking.

He now knew that there was no one to watch, and he took it down. Aside from the heat, he wanted to get a better look on his face where the cuts were.

The light bounced off Percy's face, showing it more clearly.

He almost yelped. Maybe his face looked better because shadows were hiding them previously.

He sighed again. There was no hope in covering them. not completely.

On Sunday night-the day the big fight happened with the local gang, and the kid with the crutches and taped glasses- he went home with blood all over his hands, his face, and a corner of his neck. He had sneaked in quietly through the front door so his mom wouldn't notice- she didn't need to know what had happened to him now. Surely she would hyperventilate.

So he tiptoed quietly upstairs, and he already had texted his mom he would be late before the fight, and not to worry; so she would be asleep. She was used to him being late now.

Percy went to the bathroom while he wrist started to numb from all the aching earlier. He couldn't feel it anymore. After all that punching, his fist decided to slip from the side of whichever face he was hitting, and his sheer luck disappeared. Before he knew it- it was sprained. Well, he _thought_ it was, maybe a few miles ago, but when he tested it-with a nice yelp- Yep. It was.

He opened one of the cabinets of his bathroom where his mom put in a set of wrapping bandages she had bought for his dangerous childhood, just in case. He knew he should have gotten this from a professional or a doctor or heck- at a hospital. But he didn't have the money, and he really didn't want his mom asking questions all night long until the crack of dawn. He didn't want to make her worry either.

After a few aching moments, his wrist was completely bandaged. Now he would be good to go for a week, then he could get rid of it.

Now that he looked at it in the dim like of the school's bathroom- he'd done a pretty good job with it yesterday with fresh new bandages. He'd also done a good job at hiding from his mom by staying at the Stoll's. He'd called her and told her he would be staying at a friend's, and of course, she agreed, like she always did. He lied smoothly, and was told to be careful and stay away from danger.

But thanks to Travis and Connor Stoll, he'd been stalling school and hanging out in the city for the week, watching the two twin boys steal sweets out of a candy store.

Well, the mean reason for his absence at school was for the scratches on his face. Go figure.

He really didn't want any questions about it and kids harassing about it. Percy thought it would be just embarrassing.

But the Stolls didn't seem to mind. They only asked what happened, and nodded when he told them a really simple, short story. Of course though, he tried to hide his face all the time.

When he finally decided that even a girl's concealer wouldn't even cover the bruises up- he pulled the hoodie over his hair and watch out for people.

He swept the bangs out of his eyes that were hanging low to see what was in front of him. He definitely needed a haircut. His mom would be rushing him to the bathroom with scissors if she saw him this way.

Percy pulled down the rest of his hoodie down to his hips, and pulled the sleeves up to his elbow. He dug into the pockets for anything, like trash he needed to throw away that he always chucked into his pocket. His hands found something and pulled it out, but stopped as he was about to swing his arm.

A Snickers wrapper.

He started at it for five seconds.

Huh. That was interesting.

He opened the crinkled plastic wrapper and turned it around in his hands, his mind flickering to a girl he always loved.

His best friend. Annabeth Chase.

Well, past tense on best friend.

Percy knew he blew it. He blew it for him and Annabeth, their friendship, their times they spent together and the places they went together when they were in middle school, before seventh grade. Everything he called ours.

He'd made a horrible choice choosing what he thought was for the better. Popularity. Fame. Actually getting noticed and not being ignored anymore.

He'd been selfish, so he started to ignore his friends. He started to ignore Thalia Grace. He started to ignore Nico di Angelo. He started to ignore Grover Underwood.

But mostly, he'd made the biggest mistake in his life- by ignoring Annabeth Chase.

They all said she was a helpless nerd, and she wouldn't get you anywhere. They said she couldn't crack a proper joke, and if she did, it would probably be something calculative- the jokes you actually had to think about when you try to understand them. They said her gray eyes were startling and weren't pretty. They said she had frizzy hair, and she probably would actually look decent, maybe pretty if she combed them out once in a while.

But Percy knew better. She wasn't awkward, and she wasn't one of those know-it-alls. She was just simply curious about everything, and that's what built her from there, to here. He knew she could crack amazing jokes all the time, and you didn't have to think about them much. To Percy, her eyes were like the eye of a storm. It was beautiful to Percy. To Percy, her hair always smelled amazing, like freshly picked strawberries. He knew that she used that strawberry scented shampoo that hse just adored. Her curls were fun to play with, when they would watch Disney movies like _Finding Nemo _together at each other's house, snuggling on the couch.

But he didn't say anything as they took him to hideouts without inviting Annabeth. He didn't say anything when they'd taken him to parties without her, and he didn't say anything when they'd say things about his friends, most of them being bad gossip.

Oh, how he regretted the past.

But regretting it now wouldn't do any good to him now. He'd made his choice- he would pay for it.

Percy shivered as he thought of what he had said to Annabeth when he'd handed her the Snickers in his hand. He realized he had bought them without thinking on the way to school. He realized only on the bleachers at the rink they were there in his pocket, when Annabeth had scooted over to where he was sitting. He realized he had bought two- and he didn't stop the words from slipping out from his childhood when he'd handing over a bar-

_My mom gave me two of these babies, but I can't eat them all. Want one? _

He did the tradition greeting of their childhood of Snickers.

And she had responded the same reply she used to do. The exact same smile. The exact same tone with her thanks.

He thought his heart would flutter like a helicopter and fly out of his chest.

And just when he had heard that Annabeth claimed she skipped class just to find him- he definitely felt something explode on the inside.

He could have sworn he'd felt dizzy, but he managed to keep his cool.

He also recalled the first time when she had actually talked to him what seemed like decades. When he smiled at her, she had frowned, and probably felt awkward.

And he was truly sorry for that. If he hadn't acted like that only four years ago, they would be sitting there cracking corny jokes and getting in trouble with Mr. Brunner by doing so. Possibly detention would have occured, but he wouldn't have cared. He doubted Annabeth would have also.

But, he had ruined their friendship. Harshly.

He also thought of everyone else who he had idiotically left behind. Especially Thalia.

Thalia always had tried to keep in touch with him no matter how he had tried to push her off. When you looked at her, she probably didn't look like the overly protective type, but she was. Percy knew her too well since they were cousins. From when she was little, she would always fend off the bullies that used to pick on him and Grover sometimes. She had no fear whatsoever, so yeah. Call her brave. She was really loyal from what Percy remembered specifically. Not from the calls.

Then there was that fight they had after he had met Annabeth in Latin. He knew Thalia reacted towards him like that because she cared. Her caring sometimes lashed out as anger, and Percy knew. But he was seriously annoyed at the time, and he lashed back.

He knew it wasn't the smartest thing. But it did end up with him and Annabeth talking again.

He smiled at the thought and was about to shove the wrapper back in his pocket when he heard footsteps and the door of the bathroom opening to his right.

"Yeah, just start up the car guys, be there in a few-"

Percy's head flickered to the door that had opened, and his eyes matched in with the person.

The was tension in the air before the other person blinked and squinted their eyes.

"Percy Jackson?"

The person who had broke into a grin had sandy blond hair, with clear blue eyes and a tan face. There was a scar that started from the corner of his eye to the line of his jaw. He had a crazy smile and pearly white teeth; and he knew this guy too much.

Luke Castellan.

"Hey," Percy said, casually trying to not meet his eyes by turning on the faucet and wash his hands.

"Dude," Luke came over to his side and gawked at him. "Hey man, what happened? What's wrong with your face?"

"I ran and fell and sort of slipped over asphalt," Percy said, making his lie a little more convincing. Man, he should have used this over Annabeth. "No big deal."

Luke's mouth never closed up though. "Woah.. That wasn't just a slip, man. When did that happen?"

"Around Sunday," Percy replied, turning off the water from the faucet. He wiped his hands on his hoodie, making them a deeper color than they were before.

Luke arched an eyebrow and looked at him funny. He crossed his arms. "Why didn't you come to school, then?"

"Eh, you know," Percy said, laughing with nervousness, desperately wanting to bolt out of the door and run. "I wanted to avoid too much questions, I guess. I think that plan has failed."

"Possibly," Luke said pointing at the scar on Percy's eyebrow. "But man, is hockey season hard on us. You thinking about joining?"

"Nah," Percy said, holding up his wrist for Luke to see. "I can't with this."

"C'mon, Percy!" Luke said, looking dangerously mischievous. "You were great in the Eagles, remember?"

Flashback: There was a lot to tell, but long story short, Luke Castellan is an old friend of Percy's. They were in the Eagles hockey team together when they were in middle school- and they were great together. While Percy decided to quit after he went to high school because he wanted to spend more time with his 'new friends', Luke chose to stay with hockey. But it looks like it wasn't going so great, not winning any medals or any goals in the big games for two years straight. Percy noticed a while ago, but he ignored it.

"Yeah, but that was history. We don't know if I'm any good or not." Percy said, twisting his wrist a little bit.

"Percy," Luke said, clapping him on the shoulder. "Man, you had the talents, I can tell you that. C'mon, if you were golden on the eagles, I'm sure you could be a god out on our team."

"Stop being so cheesy."

Luke grinned and held up his arms as a surrender. "I'm just saying. You should try out for the team. We're desperate."

"I'll think about it."

Percy gave a grin and clapped Luke on the back to say goodbye, and headed out the door.

With the hoodie pulled over his head, he felt like he could ignore everybody in the world. Now all he needed were earbuds and a few Green Day songs- and his ignorance plan would be beyond complete.

Well, that is- when he bumped into a girl that was passing through the hallways, a mop in her hand.

"Ow," Percy rubbed his head, where the stick of the mop slammed against. "Watch where you're going," he mumbled.

"Excuse you-" the girl looked up from the ground and met Percy's eyes. Her talking stopped. "Percy Jackson?"

He stopped his movements also, and looked her up and down, just to see if he wasn't hallucinating "Annabeth?"

Yes, Annabeth Chase.

The same Annabeth Chase from his childhood, the same Annabeth Chase from Latin class, the same Annabeth Chase that met him in the ice rink of Goode, and the same Annabeth Chase that was in his mind only minutes ago.

"What are you doing here?" Annabeth asked, cocking her head to one side. She pointed to the clock above a particular row of lockers. "It's five. You should be home."

He took a glance at the clock hung up at the small section of wall, which indeed read five o'clock. That was odd. He swore when he got to the bathroom, it was four.

He shrugged and assumed that it was his ADHD. Sometimes it did that to him, making time go fast when he did something out of thought, or what he wanted to do.

Percy cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck. "Um, I could ask the same thing." He glanced at the mop in her hand. "Why are you holding that?"

Annabeth took a quick glance at her mop, then at Percy's face. She blushed and looked at the ground. "I got caught for skipping class. So I'm paying for justice, I guess."

"Oh," he said. He shoved his hands deep in his pockets. He wasn't sure what to do with them, and he was sure they were getting sweaty. "I'm sorry. Can I help?"

"No, no." she said, meeting his eyes. "It's okay. I'm almost done. I just gotta clean the rest of the class."

"What class?"

"Geometry," She rolled her eyes. "Mrs. Lancaster is going to be the death of me."

"Aw, she's not _that_ bad," He said, following Annabeth as she walked down the hallway.

"Seriously?" she shook her head and stopped in front of a door to open it. Inside revealed a class full of maps and sail routes- welcome to the home of geography. "Besides from Mrs. Dodds, she's horrible. I hate her high pitched voice."

"So.." Percy went inside as he watched her clean down the floors. He went to where the chalkboard was, and leaned against the clean rail. Probably Annabeth cleaned it. "She made you clean the whole classroom?"

"Yeah," Annabeth said, tucking in a loose blond curl behind her ear. "She said she would inspect it tomorrow morning and call me on the school speakers if it isn't clean."

"Harsh." Percy commented.

"Harsh." She agreed.

He stopped talking and held his breath to keep it dead quiet.

Annabeth was making her way from left to right, from behind to front. She was quick, but also neat and hard at the same time. Her golden hair tumbled down her shoulders and her back, making her extremely elegant. Her eyes focused on the ground as she bit her lip while she pushed and pulled on the mop through the floor- the same way she did when she was finishing her homework at Percy's house. Her concentration was incredible-she didn't miss a single spot.

_Same old Annabeth_, he thought.

Of course, he _wanted_ to help- but he was afraid his shoes would make the floor dirty if he went out and came back for a mop. So he stayed silent, just until Annabeth told him to move out of his space. He did.

Annabeth made her way to the last column of the floor and hit a corner of the blue wall. She sighed, squatted against the floor and moaned, "_Done_, finally."

Percy gave a sarcastic smile. "Congratulations. You achieved most improved student janitor."

"Don't mess with me, Jackson," she said, standing up. She turned around, and he could tell she was hiding a smile. The corners of her mouth were twitching. "_This _is where you would be hearing Mrs. Lancaster talk about geography stuff. You better use it clean, or I'll hunt you down."

"Yes ma'am," He said. "How are you getting home? Thalia around here?"

"No," she said. "I was thinking about walking home. Dad has a meet up with his buddies, and Susan's probably with the twins. So, yeah. I can risk walking."

"You need a ride?" He took the mop from her hands, receiving a raised eyebrow, but she didn't say anything. He and Annabeth got out of the classroom, turned off the lights and Annabeth did the honors of locking it. "The shotgun's open."

"Oh really," she said, keeping her tone at 'uninterested'. "I guess I'll have to. I'm too nice to turn down an offer."

"Oh please," He said. "Remember that kid that used to like you in sixth grade?"

"Who? I don't know what you're talking about." She opened the janitor's closet they had reached, and Percy shoved the mop in a corner. She locked that door also, and kept on walking down the hallway.

"Matt Sloan? Remember? The guy that used to pick on me."

"What about him?" She said, dangling the ring of keys on her finger.

"He asked you to the prom, remember?" As they opened the double dark blue doors, his hair was blown with cold air.

"I thought _you_ took me."

"Don't play stupid, Chase. He asked you before I asked you."

She stuck out her tongue in rebel, and Percy had to fight the desire to do it back. "Well, you turned him down. He took advantage of _me _on taking out his anger, goddamn."

"Oh, did he."

"Yeah."

"Just a second,"

He hadn't realized they were in front of the next building's office. Annabeth stopped dangling the keys and placed it firmly in her hands before taking Percy and walking in.

Percy had been to the office plenty of times, he was starting to memorize the floor plans of the place. The cream white walls and wood lining reminded him of a hotel lobby, like it always did. The counter was a rosewood desk, as Mrs. Robbins had told him tons of times as he was waiting for the principal for a 'talk'. There were a lot of plants making the carpet even greener, like it was a small planet. On the corner stood a table with love seats on either side, where Percy always sat.

Apparently, this was the 'class' he came to maybe on a daily basis. He wasn't getting the chills of going to the office anymore.

"Hi, Mrs. Robbins," Annabeth said, and Percy didn't realize he was spacing out. "I'm here to give you the keys."

Mrs. Robbins was this cool nurse-teacher who had graying red hair and glasses. She was also overweight, but it made the place more homey.

"Ah, honey. Place them here," She pointed to a basket. "Was it Mrs. Lancaster?"

Annabeth gave a surprised look and placed the keys into the basket. "How did you know?" she chuckled.

"A lot of kids go late to give keys. All of them for the purpose of Mrs. Lancaster."

"Looks like I wasn't the only one she hates." Annabeth grumbled under her breath.

"What was that dear?"

"Oh, nothing." Annabeth smiled.

Mrs. Robbins smiled, and gave Percy a little wave. "Hello Mr. Jackson."

"Hi." He said.

"Well you two better run along. It'll get dark soon." She gave that sincere teacher smile.

"Thank you so much, Mrs. Robbins. I'll see you later." Annabeth said.

"Yeah." Percy grumbled.

She gave a smile-nod, and Annabeth dragged Percy out after her after giving another polite goodbye, and they were out of the school. They faced the parking lot, and Percy took out his keys. "You up for the ride, right?"

"Right." Annabeth said, tightening her sweater around her. Percy stole a glance, regretted that he didn't take her to his car fast making her cold. He started walking in front of her.

"C'mon, I don't have all day." He said, trying to sound as not-caring-at-all as possible.

"Alright, alright."

Percy looked around and realized there were _no_ vehicles- and he means no vehicles, except for the teachers' parking lot. He decided that he really needed to do something about his ADHD nagging at him. He realized he was picking at his scabs through the whole hockey game practice and until all the kids were out.

"Wow," Annabeth muttered. "I was out that long? It's five fifteen."

"I know," He said. Then he realized she wasn't talking about him. "I mean- you were."

"What were you doing at school this late? You didn't have to clean the floors of Ms. Lancaster's class, like I did."

Percy shrugged as they reached his car, the red rag-top Jeep. He pulled his keys and unlocked the driver's seat which unlocked the whole car. Annabeth ran over to the shotgun and hopped in, which he found cute. He himself got in, and answered her question. "I was hanging out at the rink."

"How was watching hockey practice?"

"Good, I guess. How was your cleaning the class?" He glanced over and gave a smile. "Fun?"

"You're kidding me, right?" she said bringing a hand to her forehead.

"Nah," he said, and he chuckled when Percy heard her groan. He took another glance at her before starting the ignition. "Put on your seat belt."

"No," She said, crossing her arms and glaring at the front windows. "I don't want to."

"Okay, but I'm not saying anything if I see blood."

And that's when he smiled when he heard the snap of the seat belt being fastened next to him.

He literally drove out of the parking lot and to the streets, since there were absolutely no cars to block him. He was glad for that. He did _not_ want to do something stupid maybe by crashing into another car just by trying out reverse. It would make him a total fool.

And into the busy streets they plummeted. Percy's driving skills didn't disappoint him, like he prayed they wouldn't. But what did was traffic. He tried his best to keep up conversations, but it wasn't the same as middle school. They would laugh quietly about something, then the air would go back to it's awkward state. Percy hated it, being frustrated they weren't keeping up conversations like they used to do, finding almost everything funny. He missed when they would go quiet and it was _never _awkward.

Well, he was the cause of it. He blamed himself. He knew he should have never listened to them.

From when they got to their fourth or fifth stop-Percy wasn't even counting-, there was a silent rumble next to him. He stole a glance to Annabeth, and he saw her clutching her stomach, looking at her feet. He could tell she was blushing. She had her hair up in a ponytail.

"You hungry?" He asked, turning a left as the traffic turned green.

"Yeah, I didn't eat much." She said, still looking at the ground, refusing to look up.

"Why?"

"I don't know.. Thalia was talking about something I didn't want to hear, along with Nico talking about some barfing incident. I was halfway through my sloppy joe when I lost my appetite."

"Then do you want to get something?" He said, thinking of a place.

"Yes please," she automatically replied, but then she looked at him and blushed. "I um- Uh, I mean- if that's... okay with you."

He smiled. "Yeah, I was hungry too."

* * *

**I just love this story to death. And I mean TO DEATH.**

**I realized I was out for a month, and I was like, gods, am I not going to update anything? So I put my hands on this and ta-da! A Percy POV.**

**Have you guys read The Blood of Olympus? Honestly, I got it like, a day after it came out, but seriously- I'm so scared I can't read it... But gotta love Reyna and Nico POVs. I can't- I just can't. **

**Back to what I was talking about- Okay, so this was what Percy was thinking all this time. What he thought about 'them' and what his feelings radiated toward Annabeth.**

**Oh, and too add- I'm very busy. I mean, really, really busy. I'll be very, very busy until like the middle of November, so I trust you to be a little nice and wait for updates. I'm really sorry. **

**And as for The Cinderella Play (my other pjo fic), I don't know how to go with it. I'm still storming for ideas.. ;(**

**aNYwaY! Thanks for reading, and keep doing it. READING'S GOOD FOR YOU, I SWEAR.**

**-solstar16**

**Psst. I need you to _REVIEW__._ I need to know if my writing's good or not, and I'm looking for a nice person who could beta and explain how exactly to do it. I need that person to beta my other fics, too, hahahaha (blushes). PM me to let me know!**

**tumblr- solstar16**


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